How to Get Into Baylor College of Medicine: The Definitive Guide (2026-2027 Cycle)

Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a private, independent health sciences university in Houston, Texas, and its School of Medicine runs one of the most selective MD programs in the country. Students train at the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world, or at Baylor’s branch campus in Temple, Texas, with Baylor Scott & White Medical Center as its primary teaching hospital. The College was founded in 1900 and celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2025. Its first-time MD class for 2026 had 226 students.

Baylor College of Medicine teaches students to use the health sciences, their knowledge and their scientific experience to become excellent doctors in whatever field they choose. Its stated values are respect, integrity, innovation, teamwork and excellence, and those values show up in how the school selects and trains its students. Medical students at Baylor do not have to travel far to see a wide range of patients. Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Ben Taub Hospital and the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center are core training sites, most of them within walking distance of the Houston teaching campus. Baylor also has a long record of strong USMLE results and residency matches.

Baylor is different from most private schools in two ways that matter right away. First, traditional MD applicants apply through the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS), not AMCAS. Second, tuition is low for a private school, and Baylor evaluates Texas residents and non-residents with the same criteria. As you can imagine, the program is highly selective, and a strong application needs careful planning.

That’s where International Medical Aid comes in. Our founders are Johns Hopkins graduates, and we created this series of definitive guides to help the next generation of medical students. This guide covers the 2026-2027 application cycle, for students who want to start medical school in July 2027. It explains Baylor’s mission, its programs and dual degrees, its curriculum and campuses, the requirements and deadlines, the 2026-27 costs, the people who lead the school, the three current secondary questions with full illustrative examples and analysis, and the virtual interview day. Facts were checked on October 18, 2026. If Baylor College of Medicine is on your radar, keep reading.

Key Takeaways

• Apply through TMDSAS for the MD; use AMCAS only for the MD/PhD. Traditional MD applicants must submit a TMDSAS application. Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD) applicants complete AMCAS, not TMDSAS. TMDSAS submission opens May 15 and closes October 1.
• U.S. citizens and permanent residents only for the MD. The MD program does not accept international or DACA applicants. The MD/PhD program accepts international applicants who completed their undergraduate training at an accredited U.S. college or university.
• Out-of-state applicants are judged by the same criteria. Even so, 200 of the 226 first-time students in the 2026 entering class were Texas residents, 25 came from other states and one was international.
• There is no GPA or MCAT minimum, but the bar is high. Accepted applicants for the 2025 entering class had a median MCAT of 519 and a median GPA of 3.95. Your MCAT must be from September 2024 through September 9, 2027, and Baylor reviews your most recent score.
• Know the four required parts beyond TMDSAS. A $100 supplemental application (due November 1 at 5 p.m. CST), three letters or a committee packet through TMDSAS by October 15, a Casper score (last test date September 15, 2026) and a verified MCAT. Your file is not reviewed until every piece is in.
• The secondary has three prompts. A 1,000-character essay on up to two areas of interest, a question about time between college and medical school with no stated limit, and a mandatory 2,000-character special-experiences essay. If you skip Prompt 3, the committee will not review your application.
• Costs are low for a private school. 2026-27 tuition is $19,682.50 for Texas residents and $32,782.50 for non-residents. The first-year cost of attendance in Houston is $65,462.85 for residents and $78,784.85 for non-residents.
• Interviews are virtual, on Fridays. Each applicant has two 25-30 minute interviews on Zoom, after a Thursday evening student social.
• Next step: finish your Casper registration and draft your Prompt 3 essay now, so you can return the supplemental within days of receiving the invitation.

Key Statistics About Baylor College of Medicine

The snapshot below shows the figures applicants ask about first. Class size and residency mix come from Baylor’s 2026-27 enrollment statistics, counted on September 1, 2026. Costs come from Baylor’s 2026-27 tuition and fee tables. Median MCAT and GPA, applications and interviews are for the 2025 entering class, the newest class with those figures. No count of acceptances (offers) is published for the MD program, so no acceptance rate appears here.

Read these numbers as a picture of who enrolls, not as cutoffs. A median of 519 means half of the accepted applicants scored below it. Baylor has no GPA or MCAT minimum, and its holistic review weighs your experiences and attributes alongside your metrics. The residency numbers matter, too. Baylor uses the same criteria for every applicant, yet about 88 percent of the 2026 class were Texas residents. If you live outside Texas, you are welcome to apply, but plan a balanced school list.

Mission and Educational Priorities

Baylor’s mission statement is short: “Baylor College of Medicine is a health sciences university that creates knowledge and applies science and discoveries to further education, healthcare and community service locally and globally.” Its vision is “Improving health through science, scholarship and innovation.” The College lists five values: respect, integrity, innovation, teamwork and excellence.

Those words are broad, so look at what Baylor actually does with them. Three priorities stand out for applicants.

Science and scholarship for every student. Baylor is a research-intensive institution. It received $683 million in total research funding in fiscal year 2025 and ranked 23rd among U.S. medical schools for NIH funding. That research culture reaches the MD curriculum. Every MD student must complete a Student Scholarship and Inquiry Project before graduating (MD/PhD students are exempt because their PhD serves that purpose). A four-week course called Foundations of Academic Scholarship and Translational Research (FASTR) sits in the second year, and the SOAR office runs a searchable database that matches students with faculty research projects. If you have done research, Baylor gives you room to continue. If you have not, you will still be expected to produce scholarship.

Care for a diverse community. Baylor’s clinical sites include Ben Taub Hospital, a county hospital that serves a primarily underserved population, as well as private, pediatric, veterans and cancer hospitals. The school tells applicants that students will “care for patients with conditions rarely seen in other medical schools” and will learn how culture shapes health beliefs. Spanish is on Baylor’s recommended coursework list for this reason. A Care of the Underserved Pathway, a Global Health Pathway and a required two-week course in Service Learning, Wellness, and Narrative Medicine all put that priority into the curriculum.

Service and leadership. Baylor looks for applicants with “attributes and experiences that demonstrate leadership and exceptional service to others.” It looks for six qualities: diversity that broadens the institution’s perspective, high intellectual ability, evidence of a strong interest in medicine, a high level of personal integrity, varied experiences, and leadership and service.

What does that mean for you? Baylor’s mission rewards applicants who can show three things: curiosity backed by some form of inquiry, sustained contact with patients or communities in need, and evidence that others trust them to lead. You do not need a publication. You do need to explain what questions you have asked and what you did about them. When you write your secondary essays and prepare for interviews, connect your experiences to these priorities with specific examples. Do not repeat the mission statement back to the committee.

Accreditation and Institutional Identity

Baylor College of Medicine’s MD program is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the accrediting body for U.S. and Canadian MD programs. In a letter dated March 1, 2022, the LCME continued Baylor’s full accreditation for the maximum eight-year term. Baylor’s next full LCME survey is scheduled for the 2029-2030 academic year. The College as a whole is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award master’s and doctoral degrees.

The Temple campus is formally “Baylor College of Medicine School of Medicine – Temple,” a branch campus that depends on the continued accreditation of the parent campus in Houston. Students at both campuses earn the same Baylor MD.

A common point of confusion: Baylor College of Medicine is not Baylor University. Baylor University is a separate institution in Waco. The two share historical roots, but the College of Medicine is an independent health sciences university with its own leadership. They still work together. The Baylor 2 Medical Track gives six Baylor University students a year provisional acceptance to BCM, and BCM offers an MD/MBA with Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business.

Baylor also has a new leader. Dr. Jakub Tolar became president, CEO and executive dean of Baylor College of Medicine on June 1, 2026. He previously served as dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Accreditation tells you the program meets national standards. It does not rank programs or guarantee outcomes. For an applicant, the practical points are that Baylor’s MD is fully accredited, both campuses share it and the school’s identity is separate from Baylor University’s. If clinical experience is the part of your file you are still building, our clinical internships for pre-med students put you in hospitals and clinics where you take vitals, do intake and help with patient care under supervision.

Medical Programs and Affiliations

Baylor College of Medicine offers the following programs through or alongside the School of Medicine:

• MD program (Houston or Temple)
• MD/PhD (Medical Scientist Training Program)
• MD/MBA with Rice University (Houston)
• MD/MBA with Baylor University (Temple)
• MD/MPH with UTHealth Houston School of Public Health
• MD/JD with the University of Houston Law Center
• MD/MS in biomedical informatics with the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston
• Nine optional medical pathways, including the Medical Research Pathway
• Baccalaureate/MD programs for high school and early college students

Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program

The traditional MD takes four years. You will spend about 15 months in the Foundational Sciences curriculum and then move into clinical training at the end of October of your second year. The curriculum section below covers each phase. Every MD applicant applies through TMDSAS.

Houston or Temple. Baylor accepts students to the MD program first, then assigns a campus. After acceptance, every admitted student ranks campus preferences in the applicant portal. A computerized selection system assigns campuses based on preferences and capacity, and notifications begin in March. You must complete all four years at your assigned campus; transfers between campuses are not allowed once the curriculum starts. Students who do not receive their preferred campus can request reassignment for compelling reasons, such as a spouse’s job, a child in local school or specialized health care needs. All MD/PhD students are assigned to Houston. Your interview site does not indicate or guarantee your campus.

The Temple campus trains at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Temple, a 690-bed teaching hospital and the only Level I trauma center between Dallas and Austin, plus the Central Texas VA and Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s. Temple students describe more time with physicians and residents on a smaller campus. The cost of living in Temple is lower, too, and that shows up in the cost of attendance.

The Medical Research Pathway (Optional, Tuition Scholarship and Stipend)

The Medical Research Pathway (MRP) is a five-year program: four years of MD training plus one year of intensive, hypothesis-driven research with a Baylor faculty member. The research year starts January 1 of the second or third year. A tuition scholarship and stipend are provided to all accepted participants, and students must have a research stipend in place from their mentor or an outside source (for example, CPRIT) before starting. You may not take medical school courses during the research year, but you may audit graduate courses.

After the research year, students can return to the MD curriculum, do a second year of MRP research, or apply to the MD/MS through the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences or to the MSTP. MRP students present their research at the James K. Alexander Research Symposium or a national meeting. This is a rare structure for a U.S. medical school and a good fit for applicants who want serious lab time without committing to a PhD. Read more on the Medical Research Pathway.

Other Medical Pathways

Pathways are optional, span all four years and combine classroom, clinical and research work. Students commit through a form, usually by December 10 of the MS2 year, after completing foundational electives. Baylor’s current pathways are:

• Care of the Underserved: foundational electives such as Refugee and Immigrant Medicine and Longitudinal Community Medicine and Primary Care, a community project capstone, two clinical electives and a reflection paper.
• Genetics and Genomics: adult, pediatric and prenatal genetics electives in Houston or Temple, with an inquiry project in genetics.
• Global Health: two foundational electives, an applied learning option (Diploma in Tropical Medicine modules or clinical and research electives), approved conferences and a final paper.
• Health Policy: policy research methods and engagement with advocates and policymakers.
• Medical Ethics: foundational ethics applied to current clinical issues.
• Medical Humanities: four electives in literature, the arts, history and philosophy, including Humanities in the Hospital.
• Medical Research: described above.
• Quality Improvement: established in 2024, with QI electives, value-based care modules and a capstone project.
• Space Medicine: three electives including a research month, taught by Baylor faculty and experts from NASA and other institutions.

MD/PhD Program

The Medical Scientist Training Program is for students who want careers as physician scientists. Students split their training between clinical medicine and full-time laboratory research. Students may do their PhD in any of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences programs at Baylor or in Rice University’s Bioengineering Graduate Program, which gives you even more options.

Baylor’s MSTP has held an NIH training grant since 1977 and has trained more than 350 physician scientists. About 100 students are supported at any time, and all offers of acceptance are fully funded with tuition, medical insurance and a stipend. For the class entering in 2026, the program received 502 applications, interviewed 87 applicants and enrolled 14. Ten to twelve candidates are accepted in a typical year.

MD/PhD applicants apply through AMCAS, not TMDSAS. The MSTP supplemental application opens July 1, does not require an invitation and lets you make a non-binding choice of two graduate programs or Rice Bioengineering. All MSTP materials are due October 1. International students are eligible if they completed their undergraduate training at an accredited U.S. college or university.

MD/Master of Business Administration

Baylor College of Medicine partners with Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business to offer a five-year MD/MBA on the Houston campus. This degree is especially useful for students who want leadership roles in hospitals, health systems or health care companies. Students complete three years of medical school, then spend about a year and a half in Rice’s full-time MBA program, with an overlap during the summer of the fourth year, and return to Baylor to finish. MBA applications are submitted during the third year. You can find the Rice program details here.

Temple students have a second option: a five-year MD/MBA with Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, where students spend one year in the full-time MBA program after their third year of medical school.

MD/Master of Public Health

This degree fits students with a strong interest in both medicine and public health. Graduates go on to roles in community health programs, health policy and health care administration as well as patient care and research. Baylor partners with UTHealth Houston School of Public Health for this dual degree, and the program offers both four-year and five-year options. Go here for more information on the MPH program.

MD/Juris Doctor

Baylor College of Medicine partners with the University of Houston Law Center (UHLC) to offer a six-year MD/JD. Students spend three full years at Baylor, then take a leave of absence and complete two years of full-time legal study at UHLC, including at least one summer session, and return to Baylor for a final year. There is no concurrent coursework. You apply to Baylor and UHLC separately; admitted Baylor students may take the LSAT and apply to UHLC through the fall of the third year. Graduates earn both degrees, and they can practice as physicians and, after passing a bar exam, as attorneys.

MD/MS in Biomedical Informatics

This five-year option pairs the Baylor MD with a Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics from the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston. Students spend three years at Baylor, then 12 months in the MS program, and finish a practicum while completing their final clinical rotations. You may note your interest on the Baylor application, but you apply to the MS program in March of your third year.

Baccalaureate/MD and Early Programs

Baylor offers provisional acceptance through the Baylor 2 Medical Track (six Baylor University students a year, applied for in the senior year of high school), the Houston Premedical Academy at the University of Houston for DeBakey High School for Health Professions students, an early acceptance program with St. Mary’s University and the Texas Joint Admission Medical Program (JAMP).

Clinical Affiliations

Baylor lists nine highly regarded affiliated hospitals and related systems: Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center (jointly owned with CommonSpirit Health and Baylor’s primary private adult hospital), Texas Children’s Hospital, Harris Health System and Ben Taub Hospital, the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, The Menninger Clinic, TIRR Memorial Hermann, CHRISTUS Children’s in San Antonio, Baylor Scott & White Health and the Central Texas VA Health Care System. The rotations section covers how students use them.

Curriculum Overview

Baylor describes its approach as “accelerated, integrated.” Students learn the basic sciences in about 15 months and begin core clerkships at the end of October of the second year, earlier than at many peer schools. Here is how the four years fit together for students who started in 2023 or later.

Foundational Sciences (August of Year 1 to October of Year 2)

The 15-month Foundational Sciences curriculum includes early one-on-one patient contact, small group learning and technology such as the Anatomage table. Students first learn core scientific concepts, then apply them to the organ systems in health and disease. Within the first few weeks, you will start practicing the skills you need to talk with and examine patients.

Year 1, fall. Transitions to Medicine (three weeks, led in part by student mentors) and Foundations of Medicine (five weeks) introduce the core basic sciences. The Cardiac, Respiratory, and Renal course runs eight weeks, followed by three weeks of Hematology. Practice of Medicine I runs across the fall and teaches essential clinical skills.

Year 1, spring. Immune, Musculoskeletal, and Integumentary Systems and then Endocrine, Gastrointestinal, and Genitourinary Systems run from January to March. Behavioral and Neurologic Systems takes six weeks in April and May, and the Integrated Systems course closes the year with a focus on infectious disease. Practice of Medicine II continues clinical skills.

Year 2, fall. Assessment, Consolidation, and Exam Skills (ACES) spends four weeks preparing students for the NBME Comprehensive Basic Science Examination. The four-week FASTR course covers research methods. Practice of Medicine III synthesizes the clinical skills curriculum, and the four-week Transitions to Clerkships course leads directly into the first core clerkship at the end of October.

Students must pass every foundational course, including the CBSE, before moving to clinical work. Most finish this phase in 15 months.

Clinical Curriculum (October of Year 2 Onward)

Core clerkships run in six eight-week blocks:

• Internal Medicine, eight weeks
• Obstetrics and Gynecology, six weeks, plus a two-week elective
• Neurology, four weeks, and Psychiatry, four weeks
• Pediatrics, six weeks, plus a two-week elective
• Family and Community Medicine, four weeks, plus a four-week elective period
• Surgery, six weeks, plus the two-week course Service Learning, Wellness, and Narrative Medicine

A four-week Emergency Medicine clerkship takes place in the Ben Taub General Hospital Emergency Department, a Level I trauma center that sees about 90,000 patients a year. Students there are often the first provider to take a full history and examine an undifferentiated patient, and they perform procedures such as FAST ultrasound, laceration repair and splinting.

Advanced Clinical Work and Electives

After the core year, students complete four weeks of a sub-internship, four weeks of the Ambulatory Care Rotation and four weeks of the Critical Care Rotation. Sub-internships are offered in Family and Community Medicine, Internal Medicine, Neurology, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery. In a sub-internship, you function like an intern: you admit patients, write orders under supervision and manage transitions of care. Students also take the Clinical Performance Examination (CPX) in the spring of the third year and the four-week Transition to Residency course in March of the fourth year.

Electives let you explore. Baylor offers more than 350 elective courses, and students need 22 elective credits to graduate, 16 of them clinical. Selectives such as Ophthalmology, Orthopedic Surgery, Otolaryngology and Urology give two-week exposure to fields students rarely see in core rotations. Dual degree students need 18 elective credits instead.

The Student Scholarship and Inquiry Project

One curriculum feature distinguishes Baylor: every MD student must complete a Student Scholarship and Inquiry Project to graduate. MD/PhD students are exempt. Projects can come from bench research, clinical or translational studies, medical education, quality improvement, community medicine or a pathway capstone. Several pathways, including Genetics and Genomics and Medical Humanities, let a capstone count as the inquiry project.

If you already have a research or scholarly direction when you apply, naming the kind of inquiry you want to pursue in your secondary essay is a strong fit signal. Be honest about what you have done so far and what you want to learn.

Graduation Requirements

To earn the MD, students must pass all required courses and clerkships, the sub-internship, the Ambulatory and Critical Care rotations, electives, Transition to Residency, USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2 CK and the BCM CPX. Students also need Basic Life Support and either ACLS or PALS certification. Students typically finish the clinical curriculum in 30 months but must complete it within 42 months.

Teaching Methods Worth Knowing

Baylor has used simulation for nearly 25 years. Standardized patients help students practice history taking, examination and communication, and high-tech simulators train skills such as lumbar puncture, CPR and surgical technique. An interprofessional education program brings medical students together with other health professions students. These details are useful if you choose “Simulation in medical education” in Secondary Prompt 1.

These four years will prepare you to become a Doctor of Medicine, and the electives, selectives and sub-internships will help you decide what kind of doctor you want to be.

Admissions Requirements and Application Process

Eligibility and Residency

The MD program accepts U.S. citizens and permanent residents. It does not accept international students, and Baylor does not currently accept DACA students. A U.S. citizen who completed undergraduate work at a Canadian institution meets Baylor’s requirements. Baylor uses the same criteria for Texas residents and non-residents, and TMDSAS determines residency. If you list Texas as your legal residence, you must also complete Baylor’s Residency Questionnaire before your interview.

Course Requirements

Before you enroll, you must complete at least 90 undergraduate semester hours at a fully accredited U.S. college or university. The required courses are:

• Math: 3-4 semester hours. Biostatistics is preferred, but any course with quantitative math counts, such as statistics, physics or calculus.
• Expository Writing: 3-4 semester hours. Writing-intensive courses in English, philosophy, history, public policy, political science or religion qualify. So can an honors thesis, a writing-intensive upper-division science course or a major research paper.
• Humanities and Social/Behavioral Sciences: 12 semester hours. Humanities include philosophy, religion, upper-level history, literature, writing, rhetoric, foreign language (up to 6 hours) and the performing and visual arts. Social sciences include sociology, psychology, anthropology and linguistics.
• Organic Chemistry: two semesters, 6-8 semester hours. A lab is not required.
• Biochemistry: 3-4 semester hours. A lab is not required.
• Advanced Biology: 3-4 semester hours. A lab is not required. Genetics and cell or molecular biology are highly recommended.

Some rules trip up applicants. AP, IB, CLEP and dual credit do not count toward Baylor’s required courses, so take upper-level courses in those areas. Online courses that appear on a transcript from an accredited U.S. institution are accepted. All prerequisites must be taken within 10 years before you apply. You can check whether a course at your school is approved through the TMDSAS course listings, and Baylor encourages applicants to work with their pre-health advisor. Baylor does not advise applicants itself; if you do not have an advisor, the Texas Health Education Service offers free help.

Though it is not required, Baylor recommends Spanish. Many patients in the Texas Medical Center speak Spanish, and being able to talk with them directly will make your clinical training richer. Also, you do not need to major in science. Baylor’s writing and humanities requirements reflect the value it places on broad preparation, and many admitted students majored in other subjects.

MCAT

The MCAT is required for every applicant, and the GRE cannot replace it. For the 2027 entering class, Baylor accepts scores from September 2024 through September 9, 2027. The admissions committee reviews your most recent score, so if your first score is competitive, there is no need to retake. Baylor has no MCAT or GPA minimum.

Casper

Baylor requires all MD and MD/PhD applicants to complete Casper, an online situational judgment test from Acuity Insights. You register for Baylor’s test (CSP-10111) at acuityinsights.app using your TMDSAS ID and a government-issued photo ID. The test has two sections with 14 video and written scenarios and takes 90 to 110 minutes. Baylor offers a limited set of test dates, and the final opportunity to test for distribution to Baylor this cycle was September 15, 2026, with scores due by September 28, 2026. Scores are valid for one cycle, so reapplicants must retake Casper. You need a Casper score to be considered for an interview. Baylor does not require Duet or Snapshot, and AAMC PREview is not part of Baylor’s requirements.

Letters of Evaluation

Submit either one health professions committee packet or three individual letters (four at most) through TMDSAS by October 15. You may add one optional extra letter. Letters must be on letterhead, signed, dated and in English, and include the writer’s contact information and your name. Baylor prefers in-depth letters from people who know you well over a larger number of letters. Do not send letters to Baylor directly; they will not be considered. You can submit your TMDSAS application before your letters arrive.

Primary and Secondary Applications

When you apply to Baylor, you will complete both a primary and a secondary application.

Your primary application is TMDSAS, the centralized application for Texas public medical, dental and veterinary schools, which Baylor’s MD program also uses. TMDSAS has its own personal statement (5,000 characters, on your motivation for a career in medicine), a required Personal Characteristics essay (2,500 characters), an optional essay (2,500 characters) and its own activities section. The TMDSAS website has the official guide and dates. For non-Texas schools you will likely also use AMCAS, the American Medical College Application Service, run by the AAMC. If you are applying to Baylor’s MD program, you must complete TMDSAS even if you submit AMCAS elsewhere. Baylor’s MD/PhD applicants use AMCAS instead. For a full walkthrough of the Texas system, read our TMDSAS application guide.

Your secondary is Baylor’s supplemental application. You will receive an email invitation after TMDSAS submits and verifies your application, which can take two to four weeks. The supplemental opens June 1 for MD applicants, costs $100 and is due November 1 at 5 p.m. CST. We cover the three current prompts in the secondary section below.

Baylor will not review your file until it has your verified TMDSAS application, the supplemental application and fee, your letters, your MCAT score and your Casper score. Submit early. If you have not received an interview invitation yet, you can send updates through Baylor’s application system. Once you are invited to interview, Baylor no longer accepts updates.

Admissions Timeline (2026-2027 Cycle)

Important: Baylor uses TMDSAS as its primary application, not AMCAS. TMDSAS opens earlier than AMCAS, has different essays and has its own deadlines and match process.

Baylor reviews applications on a rolling basis. The earlier your file is complete, the earlier you can be considered for an interview. Baylor does not offer an early decision program.

The TMDSAS Match and Baylor’s Waitlist

Texas schools follow the TMDSAS acceptance protocol. Schools may make offers before the Match, starting October 15. By January 29, you rank the Texas schools where you interviewed, and on February 12 the Match results come out. After the Match, a rolling period begins, and applicants with several offers must choose one by April 30. Refer to the TMDSAS website for the current rules on ranking your choices and on the Match.

At Baylor, interviewed applicants who do not match to Baylor through TMDSAS, and who have not withdrawn, are placed on the waitlist automatically. The size of the waitlist movement varies each year. In a typical cycle the waitlist holds 500 to 550 applicants and about 25 acceptance offers go to waitlisted applicants. After April 30, if withdrawals or declines leave seats open, the committee votes to activate the waitlist. Deferred entrance requests are considered case by case. Baylor’s admissions deans cannot meet with waitlisted applicants, but you can submit updates through the application system.

What Baylor Looks For

In addition to high intellectual ability and outstanding academic achievement, Baylor’s interview and review process looks closely at:

• Interpersonal and intrapersonal skills: written and oral communication, teamwork, ethical behavior, realistic self-appraisal and cultural competence
• Service to others: altruism, humanism, community service and social concerns
• Learning experiences: intellectual curiosity, critical thinking and the ability to find alternative solutions to challenges
• Motivation for medicine: meaningful experiences in health care and appropriate motivation
• Cognitive skills: as shown by transcripts, MCAT and GPA

Notice how much of that list depends on direct experience with patients and communities. If you are building that experience now, our pre-med internships place students in clinics and hospitals where they work with patients under the supervision of local clinicians.

Technical Standards and Background Checks

Baylor will not deny admission solely because of a disability and asks applicants to review its technical standards. All offers are contingent on a satisfactory criminal background check, completed after you accept an offer, and on finishing your remaining coursework.

Tuition, Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid

Considering everything it offers, Baylor College of Medicine is affordable, especially for Texas residents. Baylor calls itself the least expensive private medical school in the nation. Texas law and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rules decide whether you pay resident or non-resident tuition, based on your admission application.

Tuition and Direct Charges, 2026-27

Per BCM’s published 2026-2027 tuition and fee schedule, first-year (MS1) students are billed the following:

• Tuition (Texas resident): $19,682.50 per year
• Tuition (non-resident): $32,782.50 per year
• Health insurance: $592 per month, or $6,609.35 for the first year. Students must enroll in the Student Health Insurance Plan unless a comparable plan is approved for a waiver.
• Required fees: first-year fees include a $669 matriculation fee, a $1,574 curriculum resources fee, a $785 lab materials fee, a $650 student affairs resources fee, $520 long-term disability insurance and smaller fees for documentation, technology, the Academic Success Center, malpractice insurance, activities, services, the white coat ceremony, the class and the yearbook.
• Direct charges, MS1 (tuition, fees and insurance): $31,308.85 for Texas residents and $44,630.85 for non-residents

Cost of Attendance by Campus and Residency

The cost of attendance adds estimated living costs to the direct charges. It is also the maximum aid you can receive in a year.

For a first-year student in Houston, the estimated living costs total $34,154: $25,989 for housing and food, $4,070 for transportation, $1,750 for books and equipment, $1,870 for miscellaneous costs and $475 in loan fees. Temple’s estimated living costs are lower, which is why its total is about $4,700 less for the first year.

Debt and Financial Aid

Baylor’s medical graduates in the 2025-26 class left with an average debt of $145,158.46. Baylor compares its graduates’ debt with national averages of $222,381 for private medical schools and $197,843 for public schools (AAMC Debt, Costs and Loan Repayment Fact Card, 2023).

About 70 percent of Baylor medical students received financial aid in 2024-25. Financial need is not a factor in selecting students, so applying for aid does not affect your admissions decision.

To help students with the cost of medical education, Baylor offers federal and institutional loans, scholarships and work-study. The Office of Student Financial Aid helps with applications and decides eligibility, and financial aid counseling is available to every student. Complete the FAFSA, and look for outside scholarships from professional societies, state agencies and health professions programs. Federal loan programs for health professions students can fill some gaps. Interest rates, repayment periods and loan limits vary, so compare them carefully.

Merit scholarships. Every accepted applicant is considered for a Baylor merit scholarship. Awards are made from October through May and can come after the TMDSAS Match. The criteria are outstanding academic performance, a broad range of intellectual interests, leadership, commitment to interests beyond academics and unique life experiences. The Scholarship Committee does not match merit offers from other schools, so compare packages on their own terms.

Dual degree students pay tuition at the rate of the school where they are enrolled each term. Veterans and their families can find education benefit information through Baylor’s Registrar.

Practical Advice on Cost

Low tuition does not mean a low total cost. Living in Houston for four years is the largest single expense in your budget. Ask current students about housing near the Texas Medical Center during your interview day, and decide early whether the Temple campus, with its lower cost of living, appeals to you when you rank campus preferences. If you are a non-resident, plan to pay non-resident tuition. Baylor’s tuition page directs current students who want to be reclassified as Texas residents to the Registrar, under state rules.

Campus Facilities and Student Life

Houston: Life at the Texas Medical Center

The Houston campus sits in the Texas Medical Center, where Baylor reports 9,200 patient beds, 10 million patient visits and 180,000 surgeries a year. Ben Taub Hospital is next to the Baylor campus, and most core clerkship sites are within walking distance. Baylor’s newest education building, the Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower, is scheduled to open in fiscal year 2027 as the future home of medical and health professions education.

Houston is the fourth-largest U.S. city, with about 2.3 million residents. Its cost of living is 4.4 percent below the national average, and it has more than 10,000 restaurants, 350 parks and professional sports, theater, ballet, opera and museums. Galveston’s beaches and several lakes are within a short drive. Medical students often say the diversity of patients is the reason they chose Houston.

Temple: A Smaller Campus

Temple has more than 90,000 residents and a cost of living 14.3 percent below the national average, with housing costs about 30 percent lower. Students have Belton Lake and Stillhouse Hollow Lake nearby, 45 public parks and 25 miles of trails. Temple students train at Baylor Scott & White, a system with 51 hospitals and 7,000 physicians. Squad rooms are on the second floor of the Medical Education Building in Temple.

Learning Communities and Mentors

Every Baylor student belongs to a learning community. In Houston, each class is divided into squads, and each squad is split into Peer Resource Network (PRN) groups of about eight students. Each PRN group has a faculty Learning Community Advisor and two “PRN parents,” students from the class ahead. Advisors meet one-on-one with each student twice a year from the first year to graduation to review an individualized education plan and talk through personal and professional goals. As you choose a specialty, your advisor helps you find faculty for focused mentoring. Houston squad rooms are on the third floor of the DeBakey Building.

The PRN starts before you arrive. Current students write to incoming students, lead orientation week and help teach the Transitions to Medicine course in the first three weeks. During the first year, PRN leaders host a weekly breakfast and social events such as game nights and intramurals.

Student Support

Baylor’s student success services cover academic support, wellness, career planning and counseling, including an Academic Success Center. The Grocery Resource at Baylor (GRAB), an on-campus food pantry, has provided 2,213 bags of food to students. The school stresses a secure and respectful campus and works with campus security on student safety.

Student Organizations and Service

Through the Medical Student Senate, each class elects representatives who present student needs to the administration. Students also serve on College committees. Official student organizations fall into four groups: community and advocacy, identity and affinity, student life, and specialty interest groups, plus honor societies such as Alpha Omega Alpha. Baylor also lists student-led activities that are not official organizations.

Service is part of the mission, and you can serve locally, nationally or globally. Baylor students can take electives in settings such as the Covenant House of Texas homeless shelter clinic, foster care pediatrics and refugee and immigrant medicine. For students interested in global health, the AAMC’s Global Health Learning Opportunities network gives access to about 1,400 rotations in 30 countries, and Texas Children’s Global Health Network offers rotations in Malawi and Lesotho. If you want international clinical experience before medical school, our pre-med internships abroad offer supervised, hands-on patient care at partner sites, and our medical internship in Peru is a good fit for applicants building the Spanish that Baylor recommends.

Clinical Rotations and Research Opportunities

Where Students Train

Baylor’s affiliates give students a range of patients that is hard to match. The main training sites are:

• Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center (Houston): an 850-bed hospital, jointly owned by Baylor and CommonSpirit Health, and Baylor’s primary private adult teaching hospital, with a newer facility on the McNair Campus.
• Harris Health System and Ben Taub Hospital (Houston): the public system’s central hospital, contiguous with Baylor’s campus, with a Level I trauma center, a Comprehensive Stroke Center and teaching in every specialty. Students may also rotate at Thomas Street Health Center, the nation’s first freestanding facility dedicated to HIV/AIDS care.
• Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (Houston): one of the VA’s largest hospitals, serving almost 130,000 veterans in southeast Texas.
• Texas Children’s Hospital (Houston): the primary pediatric site and the largest pediatric hospital in the nation, with the Pavilion for Women for obstetrics and gynecology.
• MD Anderson Cancer Center, The Menninger Clinic and TIRR Memorial Hermann (Houston): for oncology, psychiatry and rehabilitation.
• Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Temple, Central Texas VA and McLane Children’s (Temple): the Temple campus’s primary teaching sites.
• CHRISTUS Children’s (San Antonio): where Baylor recruits, employs and oversees physicians, giving students opportunities outside Houston.

How Rotations Work

In Internal Medicine, Houston students rotate at Ben Taub on an inpatient ward team, at the DeBakey VA on a ward team and at Baylor St. Luke’s on a subspecialty consult team, plus ambulatory clinics. Temple students rotate at Baylor Scott & White – Temple and the Central Texas VA. In Family and Community Medicine, students spend most of the clerkship in a family physician’s office, at sites such as Baylor Family Medicine, Harris Health community health centers and private practices in Houston and Temple, and see patients on their own after a brief period of shadowing. In Emergency Medicine, students work 60 to 70 clinical hours, including night and weekend shifts. Most sites are close to the teaching campuses, so travel is limited compared with schools that spread rotations across a state.

Research Opportunities

Baylor is a major research institution. It received $683 million in total funding in fiscal year 2025 from more than 3,700 sponsored awards, and its faculty includes five members of the National Academy of Sciences and 13 members of the National Academy of Medicine. For medical students, research runs through several channels:

• SOAR (Student Opportunities for Advancement in Research): a searchable database of faculty projects in basic, translational, clinical, health services, education, quality improvement and community research; one-on-one research advising; travel awards; and a monthly session where students give seven-minute research talks.
• The Student Scholarship and Inquiry Project: required for every MD student.
• The Medical Research Pathway: a funded research year.
• The MSTP: for full physician scientist training.
• The Henry J. N. Taub and James K. Alexander Medical Student Research Symposium: where students present their work.

Students also have access to research with NASA experts through the Space Medicine Pathway and to genetics research through the Genetics and Genomics Pathway.

Service Clinics and Global Health

Baylor students care for underserved patients across the curriculum, especially at Ben Taub and Harris Health clinics. The Family Medicine sub-internship at Ben Taub includes a half day a week at Northwest Health Center. For global health, the pathway’s electives include pediatric infectious diseases, HIV care for the underserved and global mental health, and rotations through the Indian Health Service and partner sites abroad.

Match Results

On Match Day 2026, 72 Baylor students, about 40 percent of those matching, entered primary care fields: family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, medicine-pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology or emergency medicine. Fifty-three matched at Baylor programs and 90 matched in Texas. Since 2014, 99.3 percent of Baylor students have passed USMLE Step 1, compared with 95.3 percent nationally. Results like these are why Baylor consistently produces strong match outcomes year after year.

Notable Alumni, Faculty, Leadership and Admissions Staff

These profiles come from Baylor’s official leadership pages and faculty directory. Roles were checked on October 18, 2026. We include them so you understand who shapes the school, not to suggest that any person will review your file or mentor you.

School and College Leadership

Jakub Tolar, M.D., Ph.D., President, CEO and Executive Dean. Dr. Tolar began leading Baylor College of Medicine on June 1, 2026, and holds the John E. and Clara B. Whitmore Chair. He was previously dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School and co-leader of the M Health Fairview system. He is a transplant physician and has been an NIH-funded physician scientist for more than 25 years. In his first message to the College, he described education, research, clinical care and community as one mission and said Baylor will carry academic medicine to communities across Texas, including rural areas. Applicants interested in the Temple campus or rural care can connect that priority to their own goals.

Jeffrey Chipman, M.D., Senior Dean, School of Medicine and School of Health Professions. Dr. Chipman leads the School of Medicine. He earned his MD at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1995, trained in general surgery at the University of Arizona and completed a surgical critical care fellowship at the University of Minnesota. He is board certified in surgery and surgical critical care. As senior dean, he oversees both the MD program and the School of Health Professions, which runs Baylor’s physician assistant, nurse anesthesia, genetic counseling and orthotics and prosthetics programs.

Nadia Ismail, M.D., M.P.H., M.Ed., Vice Dean, School of Medicine. Dr. Ismail is vice dean of the School of Medicine and a professor, including in Baylor’s Department of Education, Innovation and Technology. She earned her MD at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and completed advanced training at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago. She holds degrees in public health and education in addition to her MD. If you plan to write about medical education or health systems science in Secondary Prompt 1, it helps to know that the school’s senior leadership includes educators trained in both fields.

Jesus G. Vallejo, M.D., Regional Dean, Temple Campus (alumnus). Dr. Vallejo leads Baylor’s Temple campus and is a professor. He earned his MD at Baylor College of Medicine in 1989, then completed his pediatrics internship and residency and a pediatric infectious diseases fellowship at Baylor affiliate hospitals in Houston. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His path from Baylor student to Baylor faculty to campus dean shows how deeply the Temple campus is tied to the Houston school. If you are open to Temple, learn about his campus before your interview.

Admissions Leadership and Staff

Kirk Raymond Jackson Jr., M.D., M.B.A., Assistant Dean of Admissions (alumnus). Dr. Jackson is listed first among Baylor’s Admissions Committee leadership. He earned his MD at Baylor College of Medicine in 2011 after a biology degree at Millsaps College, completed residency at the University of Pennsylvania and returned to Baylor for an adult cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellowship in 2017. He is an associate professor at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center and received Baylor’s Star Award for Excellence in Patient Care in 2024. He is a good example of a Baylor alumnus who went elsewhere for residency and came back.

Christian Thomas Cable, M.D., M.H.P.E., M.A.C.P., Associate Dean of Admissions and Students, Temple Campus. Dr. Cable leads admissions and student affairs in Temple. He earned his MD at Texas A&M University Health Science Center, completed residency and fellowship at Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple and a clinical fellowship at the University of Florida, and holds a master’s degree in health professions education. He also completed an American Society of Hematology research fellowship. Temple applicants and admitted students will likely hear from his office about campus life and student support.

Natasha C. Shoaf, M.B.A., Senior Manager, Admissions. Ms. Shoaf manages Baylor’s admissions operations and is part of the Admissions Committee leadership. She is also one of the listed contacts for the virtual pre-interview social. If you have a logistical question about your file or interview day, the admissions office at [email protected] is the right place to start.

Baylor’s Admissions Committee has sole authority to select and admit students. It meets monthly and as needed, and it includes faculty co-chairs and members from many departments. The committee is charged with admitting students from varied backgrounds, values, interests and experiences.

Faculty and Program Leaders

Katherine Y. King, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pediatrics and MSTP Co-Director. Dr. King co-directs Baylor’s Medical Scientist Training Program and is associate vice-chair for research in pediatrics. A pediatric infectious diseases physician, she studies how interferon-gamma regulates blood-forming stem cells and how chronic infection depletes them. She earned her MD and PhD at Washington University School of Medicine and completed her pediatrics residency and fellowship at Baylor affiliate hospitals. MD/PhD applicants will meet the MSTP directors during interviews, so read about the program’s research before your day.

James P. Orengo, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurology and MSTP Co-Director (alumnus). Dr. Orengo earned both his MD and his PhD in molecular and cellular biology at Baylor College of Medicine. He completed his neurology residency at the University of California, San Francisco and a neuromuscular medicine fellowship at Stanford before returning to Baylor. His interests are neuromuscular medicine and neurogenetics. He is a direct example of what Baylor’s MSTP aims to produce: a physician scientist who sees patients and runs research.

Arindam Sarkar, M.D., FAAFP, Director of Medical Student Education in Family and Community Medicine (alumnus). Dr. Sarkar earned his BS at Rice University and his MD at Baylor in 2015, then completed his family and community medicine residency and a fellowship at Baylor. He directs the Family and Community Medicine Clerkship and sees patients at Harris Health’s Northwest Health Center. Baylor featured him in its “Growing Up Baylor” series, and the Houston Business Journal named him to its 40 Under 40 list in 2025. In his clerkship, students spend most of their time in a family physician’s office and, after a brief period of shadowing, see patients on their own.

Sharon Plon, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Dean, Dual Degree Programs and Pathways. Dr. Plon oversees Baylor’s dual degrees and medical pathways, the programs that let students add research, public health, law, business, informatics or a focused pathway to the MD. If you are considering a pathway or dual degree, her office is where those programs are organized.

Ryan H. Rochat, M.D., Ph.D., Director, MD/MS in Biomedical Informatics. Dr. Rochat is an assistant professor in Baylor’s Department of Education, Innovation and Technology and a pediatric infectious disease physician. He directs the MD/MS with UTHealth’s McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics and studies long-term outcomes of children with congenital infections using shared electronic health record data. He invites prospective students to note their interest in the program on their Baylor application.

Admissions Statistics and Class Profile

You know what programs Baylor has to offer and how much it costs to attend. So, just how hard is it to get in? Baylor’s MD program is one of the most selective in the nation. The good news for non-Texas applicants: Baylor’s admissions committee uses the same evaluation criteria for in-state and out-of-state residents. For a focused look at the numbers alone, see our companion piece on the Baylor College of Medicine acceptance rate.

The 2026 Entering Class

Baylor’s Registrar counted 226 first-time MD students on September 1, 2026, across the Houston and Temple campuses. Of the MS1 class:

• 200 were Texas residents
• 25 were non-Texas U.S. residents
• 1 was an international student

Two things stand out. First, the class size is steady at about 220 to 226 students a year. Second, non-Texas U.S. residents make up roughly 7 to 11 percent of each class. Baylor’s criteria are the same for everyone, but the applicant pool and the TMDSAS Match tend to produce a strongly Texan class, partly because Texas residents pay lower tuition and apply to Baylor through the same system they use for public Texas schools.

MCAT and GPA

Baylor has no MCAT or GPA minimum. For the 2025 entering class, accepted applicants had a median MCAT of 519 (mean 518.7) and a median overall GPA of 3.95 (mean 3.92). The median science GPA was 3.94 (mean 3.89). These figures place Baylor among the most selective MD programs in the country.

A median is not a cutoff. Half of the accepted applicants scored below 519, and Baylor reviews only your most recent MCAT, so a retake replaces an older score. CARS is the lowest section median at 128, so a CARS score in the high 120s is not unusual for an admitted student. If your numbers sit near the top of the national range, you have a real shot at Baylor. Strong essays, letters and a well-explained set of experiences are what will make the difference.

Applications, Interviews and Who Enrolled

For the 2025 entering class, Baylor received 6,073 verified applications: 4,372 from Texas residents, 1,608 from out-of-state applicants and 93 from international applicants. It interviewed 1,062 applicants (834 Texans and 228 out-of-state) and 224 students matriculated (196 Texans and 28 from other states). One accepted applicant deferred entrance.

About one in six applicants was interviewed. Texas residents were interviewed at a higher rate (19.1 percent) than out-of-state applicants (14.2 percent), and the MD program does not interview international applicants. Some admitted applicants enroll elsewhere, so the share of applicants who receive an offer is higher than matriculants divided by applicants, but no offer count is published.

Experiences and Background of the 2025 Class

Nearly every matriculant in the 2025 entering class reported research (99 percent) and physician shadowing or clinical observation (97 percent). Ninety-two percent reported community service, 91 percent medical or clinical volunteering and 56 percent paid clinical work. Fifty-seven percent majored in science or math, and 3 percent held a graduate degree.

The class came from 18 states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin) and two countries, the United States and Singapore. It included 106 men, 116 women and 2 students of another gender identity. Most students (181) were 19 to 23 years old, 41 were 24 to 29 and 2 were 30 to 39. Seventeen percent reported a disadvantaged background.

What does that profile mean for you? Research and clinical exposure are close to universal among Baylor matriculants, so they are expected rather than distinctive. Your secondary essays and interview need to show what you learned from those experiences and how they connect to Baylor’s mission. Shadowing is recommended, not required, but 97 percent of the class reported it.

Specialty Choices

On the 2025 AAMC Graduation Questionnaire, the most common specialty intentions among Baylor’s graduating students were internal medicine (14.4 percent), anesthesiology (9.0 percent), pediatrics (7.8 percent) and psychiatry (7.2 percent), followed by obstetrics and gynecology and radiology (6.6 percent each) and orthopaedic surgery (6.0 percent). Nine percent of graduating seniors reported a global health experience during medical school.

MD/PhD Statistics

Baylor does publish its MSTP numbers. For the class entering in 2026, the MSTP received 502 applications, interviewed 87 applicants and enrolled 14 students on July 27, 2026. Current MSTP students averaged a 3.89 GPA (range 3.6 to 4.0) and an MCAT at the 94th percentile (range 89th to 99th). Across the last five entering classes (2022-2026), GPAs ranged from 3.42 to 4.00 and MCAT percentiles from 72 to 100. The interview figure means 87 of 502 applicants were interviewed; it is not an acceptance rate.

How to Read These Numbers

Enrollment numbers count who started, not who was admitted. Many admitted applicants choose other schools, so dividing 224 matriculants by 6,073 applicants (about 3.7 percent) would not give you an acceptance rate. It gives a matriculation rate. The interview rate of 17.5 percent is the most useful published measure of how far a file has to go. When you compare schools, compare like with like: the same entering class, the same population and the same definition.

Tips and Strategies for Admission

1. Treat TMDSAS as Your Main Application

Many out-of-state applicants build their AMCAS application first and then adapt it for TMDSAS. For Baylor, reverse that habit. TMDSAS has different essays, a different activities section and different deadlines, and its submission window opens May 15. Submit early in the window. Verification takes two to four weeks, and Baylor’s supplemental invitation only arrives after verification.

2. Clear the Casper Deadline Early

Casper is the piece applicants forget. Baylor offers a limited number of test dates, uses its own test code and needs your TMDSAS ID to register. A Casper score is required to be considered for an interview. Book an early date as soon as you have your TMDSAS ID, and remember that reapplicants must retake the test.

3. Plan Your Coursework Around Baylor’s Rules

Check your transcript against three rules that cost applicants every year: AP, IB, CLEP and dual credit do not satisfy prerequisites; all prerequisites must be within 10 years; and you need writing and 12 hours of humanities and social sciences, not only science. Spanish is recommended. If you have room for one more course, a Spanish course that you can use with patients is a smart choice.

4. Build Experience That Matches Baylor’s Patient Population

Baylor’s clinical training is defined by diversity and volume: a county trauma center, the nation’s largest children’s hospital, one of the largest VA hospitals and community clinics. Applicants who have worked directly with diverse or underserved patients can speak to that environment with authority. If you are short on hands-on hours, structured programs help. Medical internships for undergraduates through IMA let you take vitals, do intake and triage and assist with care under supervision, which gives you real patient encounters to reflect on. Many students use pre-med summer internships to add clinical time without losing a semester.

5. Show Inquiry, Not Only Research Hours

Every Baylor student completes an inquiry project, so the committee wants to see how you ask and answer questions. That can be lab research, a clinical study, a quality improvement project at your workplace, a community health survey or a medical humanities project. In your essays, explain the question, what you did and what you learned.

6. Use Each Secondary Prompt for a Different Job

Baylor’s three prompts give you about 3,000 characters, plus a short answer. Plan them together so they do not overlap: Prompt 1 shows your direction in medicine, Prompt 2 explains your timeline and Prompt 3 adds something TMDSAS could not show. Do not repeat your TMDSAS essays or activities.

7. Choose Letter Writers Who Know You Well

Baylor prefers quality over quantity. Three strong letters from people who have watched you work are better than four general ones. Ask early so your letters reach TMDSAS by October 15.

8. Think About Houston and Temple Before You Are Accepted

You will rank campuses after acceptance, and you cannot switch later. Learn about both campuses during interview season, when Baylor gives interviewed applicants opportunities to visit. If you have a spouse’s job, children in school or health needs tied to one city, keep documentation ready in case you need to request reassignment.

9. If You Are Taking a Gap Year

Prompt 2 asks directly about time between college and medical school. Use that time for work that builds skills Baylor values: clinical work, research coordination, teaching or service. Pre-med gap year programs can add structured clinical experience to a gap year, especially for reapplicants who need more patient contact.

10. Write a Letter of Intent Only If You Mean It

After your interview, you cannot send application updates, but you can send a letter of intent. If Baylor is your first choice, a sincere, specific letter can help at the margin. It is about commitment, not new facts.

Secondary Application Questions, Example Responses and Analysis

For an English major, this might be the easiest part of your application. But if you do not spend a lot of time writing, this part might intimidate you. Don’t worry! We will go over each question, explain how to answer it and give you a complete illustrative example with analysis. These notes are meant to show you how to write your own essays and what kinds of material to include.

Baylor Secondary Essay Prompts: 2026-2027 Cycle

Baylor’s supplemental application has three questions for MD applicants this cycle. They are the same three questions Baylor used in 2025-2026:

• Prompt 1: Areas of interest (required, 1,000 characters)
• Prompt 2: Matriculation timing and time since college (required, no stated limit)
• Prompt 3: Special experiences (mandatory, 2,000 characters)

Your total budget across Prompts 1 and 3 is 3,000 characters, roughly 500 words combined. Characters include spaces and punctuation, so count characters, not words. Prompt 3 is mandatory: if you leave it blank, the committee will not review your application.

The MD/PhD supplemental opens July 1 and asks you to choose up to two graduate programs or Rice Bioengineering. Any MD/PhD-specific essay prompts for this cycle had not been published as of October 18, 2026, so follow the instructions in your portal if you apply to the MSTP.

2026-2027 Prompt 1: Areas of Interest Beyond Clinical Training (1,000 characters)

In addition to training as a competent physician, please select up to two additional areas of interest from the items below that you may want to pursue during your medical studies. Your responses will have no bearing on applications to joint degrees or special programs to which you might also apply.

• Clinical Research
• Healthcare/disparities/medical underserved communities
• Academic Medicine
• Community Health
• Simulation in medical education
• Health systems science
• Telehealth
• Advocacy

What knowledge, skills and attitudes have you developed that have prepared you for this career path? (1000 characters.)

The 1000 characters is the upper limit, whether you choose 1 or 2 areas of interest.

Who answers it: every MD applicant.

What it asks: you check up to two boxes, then explain in 1,000 characters what knowledge, skills and attitudes have prepared you for the path you checked. Some applicants miss that the text box refers back to the boxes they checked. It does. This is not a general “why medicine” essay.

How to approach Prompt 1. The limit is tight, under 175 words. Pick one or two interest areas you have real evidence for, not two that sound impressive. Reviewers can read the rest of your application; they want to see that the interests you name are backed by something you actually did. Lead with a specific scene (a patient interaction, a research result, a community project), then name the knowledge, the skills and the attitude it built. Close by connecting it to a Baylor feature that matches: the Student Scholarship and Inquiry Project, the Medical Research Pathway, the Care of the Underserved or Quality Improvement Pathway, simulation training or Baylor’s community clinics. Naming the Baylor feature shows fit. Avoid lists of activities. One or two concrete examples land harder than five generic ones. If you choose one area, you still have 1,000 characters, not 2,000.

Boxes checked in the example: Community Health; Healthcare/disparities/medical underserved communities.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (867 characters):

For two years I have spent Saturday mornings at a free clinic in southwest Houston, first at the front desk and then as a Spanish-English intake volunteer. Taking blood pressures in a church fellowship hall taught me that a referral means little if a patient cannot miss a weekday shift. That lesson became a small project: I mapped where our patients with uncontrolled hypertension lived and found that most were two bus transfers from the nearest health center. Presenting that map to the clinic board built two skills I want to keep using, explaining data in plain language and listening before proposing fixes. The attitude I bring is patience with slow, shared progress. At Baylor I would join the Care of the Underserved Pathway and take Longitudinal Community Medicine and Primary Care, so my inquiry project starts from questions Houston patients already ask.

Analysis. The prompt has three parts: knowledge, skills and attitudes, all tied to the chosen areas. This response answers each one in order. The knowledge is concrete: a referral fails when patients cannot reach care, learned while taking blood pressures. The skills are named directly and backed by an action, the transportation map and the board presentation. The attitude, patience with shared progress, is specific enough to be believable. Both checked areas are covered: community health through the clinic and the map, and disparities through the barrier the writer found. The last sentence connects to real Baylor programs, the Care of the Underserved Pathway and its Longitudinal Community Medicine and Primary Care elective, and to the required inquiry project, without praising the school. At 867 characters it leaves room for small edits.

Mistakes to avoid: writing a general “why medicine” essay; checking two boxes and writing about only one; listing five activities in one paragraph; naming a Baylor program you could not explain in an interview; repeating your TMDSAS personal statement.

2026-2027 Prompt 2: Matriculation Timing and Time Since College (no stated limit)

Are you planning to matriculate into medical school immediately after completing your undergraduate education? If not, please explain what activities and/or careers you have pursued in the time between your college education and your application.

Who answers it: every MD applicant answers the first question. Only applicants with time between college and medical school, including gap years, second careers and reapplicants, need to explain.

What it asks: what you have done, or are doing, between college and medical school. No character limit is stated for this question. A focused answer of 100 to 250 words, about 600 to 1,500 characters, is enough for most applicants.

How to approach Prompt 2. Keep it factual. Reviewers are not looking for a second personal statement here. They want to know what you have been doing and why. List each role, the time commitment and one sentence on what you learned. If you are going straight from college, one sentence is fine: “Yes, I will matriculate directly after completing my B.S. in [major] in May 2027.” Do not pad it.

There are many reasons for a gap year. Perhaps you were saving money. Maybe you had a family emergency. Or maybe, like Mekinzee Elliott, you took an unplanned gap year and are reapplying. There is no right or wrong reason. Baylor is simply asking what you did with the time. Be honest. A year spent caring for family or recovering from burnout is a valid answer if you explain it plainly and say what comes next.

If medicine is your second career, this is also where you explain it. The prompt asks about “activities and/or careers,” so career changers should name the first career, the length of time in it, why you are moving to medicine and what skills carry over. Keep the story of your decision for your personal statement; here, give the facts.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (151 words, 874 characters):

No. I finished my B.S. in biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio in May 2025, and I plan to start medical school in July 2027.

Since June 2025 I have worked full time as a clinical research coordinator for a pediatric asthma study at a children’s hospital in San Antonio. I screen and consent families, schedule study visits, collect spirometry data and enter it into the study database. The job showed me how much of research depends on whether a parent can get time off work, so I now offer evening phone visits for follow-up questionnaires.

Outside work, I volunteer four hours a week at a community food pantry, where I help with intake and keep the Spanish-language signs current. I also completed an online biostatistics course in spring 2026 to strengthen my quantitative skills before medical school.

I will stay in my coordinator role until June 2027.

Analysis. The response answers the yes/no question in its first word, then gives dates so the reviewer can see the whole timeline at a glance. Each activity has a role, a time commitment and a concrete task. One sentence of reflection (evening phone visits) shows initiative without turning the answer into an essay. The biostatistics course is relevant because Baylor prefers biostatistics for its math requirement. The final line answers the question applicants forget: what you will do until you matriculate. It is short because the prompt asks for facts.

Mistakes to avoid: writing a long essay because there is no limit; leaving unexplained months; apologizing for a gap year; repeating your TMDSAS activity descriptions word for word; forgetting to say what you will do until July 2027.

2026-2027 Prompt 3: Special Experiences (mandatory, 2,000 characters)

Indicate any special experiences, unusual factors or other information you feel would be helpful in evaluating you, including, but not limited to, education, employment, extracurricular activities, prevailing over adversity. You may expand upon but not repeat TMDSAS or AMCAS application information. This section is mandatory. Please make sure you submit an essay or your application will not be reviewed by the committee. (2000 characters)

Who answers it: every MD applicant. It is mandatory.

What it asks: anything that will help the committee evaluate you that is not already clear from your TMDSAS application. You may expand on primary application material, but you may not repeat it.

How to approach Prompt 3. This is the most important of the three. An empty Prompt 3 will get your application set aside without review; the prompt itself says so. Use most of the 2,000 characters (about 300 to 350 words). The instruction not to repeat your TMDSAS material is firm, so resist the urge to summarize your activity list. Pick one thing the primary application cannot capture and write around it: a caregiving year, an academic dip and recovery, a nontraditional path, a job that shaped you, a defining moment in a clinical setting or an identity-based experience that informs how you will practice medicine. Specific over abstract. Scene over summary.

An activity can appear in TMDSAS and still be a good Prompt 3 topic, as long as you explain something the activity entry could not, such as why you did it, what it cost you or how it changed your direction. If you are having trouble narrowing down what you want to share with the admissions committee, contact us. Our advisors at International Medical Aid can help you choose a topic and review your finished essay.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (353 words, 1,944 characters):

My TMDSAS activities list shows twenty hours a week as a pharmacy technician during my sophomore and junior years. It does not show why I took the job or what it cost.

When I was nineteen, my father had a stroke at work. He recovered enough to walk with a cane, but he could not return to his job as an electrician, and my mother’s income from a school cafeteria did not cover our rent in Pasadena. I moved home, transferred my evening classes to a community college for one semester and took the pharmacy job because it paid more than retail and let me study between prescriptions.

My grades show the cost. My fall 2023 GPA was 2.9, the lowest of my college career. I had tried to keep a full science load while working nights and driving my father to therapy. That spring I made a different plan. I dropped to twelve hours, met with my professors in the first week of every term and built a schedule around my shifts instead of against them. I have earned a 3.8 or higher in every semester since, including organic chemistry and biochemistry.

The pharmacy taught me something no class did. Many of our customers were managing four or five chronic medications on fixed incomes. I learned to notice when someone asked how much a refill would cost before asking what it was for, and to flag it for the pharmacist so we could look for a cheaper generic or a patient assistance program. My father was one of those patients. Watching him sort pills each Sunday made me understand how much of medicine happens after the visit ends.

I am not asking the committee to overlook my fall 2023 semester. I am asking it to read that semester alongside the ones that followed. I learned to plan honestly around real limits, to ask for help early and to keep going when progress was slow. Those habits will serve me in a fifteen-month foundational curriculum, and the patients at the pharmacy counter will stay with me when I begin clerkships at Ben Taub.

Analysis. The essay follows the prompt’s rule exactly. It opens by naming the TMDSAS entry it builds on, then adds what the entry could not show: the reason for the job, the family situation and the effect on grades. That is “expanding upon” without repeating. It covers three of the prompt’s examples (education, employment and prevailing over adversity) through one connected story, which keeps it focused. The academic dip is explained with numbers and a concrete plan, and the recovery is shown with grades in the courses Baylor requires. The pharmacy paragraph turns the job into insight about patients, costs and adherence. The closing ties the lessons to two real Baylor features, the 15-month Foundational Sciences curriculum and clerkships at Ben Taub, without flattery. At 1,944 characters it uses the space well and stays under the limit.

Mistakes to avoid: summarizing your activities list; writing a second personal statement; telling an adversity story with no reflection or outcome; making excuses for grades without showing what changed; leaving the box blank, which stops your review.

What Earlier Baylor Essays Teach

Baylor’s prompts have changed shape over the years. Earlier cycles used separate gap-year and first-career questions and a special-experiences question, each at 2,000 characters. Three lessons from those questions still apply. First, answer honestly: a gap year to care for family or rest after an accelerated degree is a valid reason. Second, count characters, not words, and do not feel you must fill the box if you have answered completely. Third, in a special-experiences answer, an activity already listed in your primary can be the topic, as long as you tell the part of the story the activity list does not, such as how a summer spent teaching science to campers led you toward a dual degree.

Interview Format and Preparation

First off, congratulations if you have an interview at Baylor College of Medicine. This is a big achievement. Interview invitations are sent by email only on the recommendation of the Admissions Committee, and it is your responsibility to check your status in Baylor’s application portal. If you are reading ahead to learn about the process, good for you. You cannot be too prepared for an interview this big.

Format

Baylor uses a traditional interview format, held virtually on Zoom. You will not need to travel to Baylor for your interview. Interviews run from August through January on select Fridays. Each applicant has two live virtual interviews of 25 to 30 minutes each with a faculty member and/or a student member of the Admissions Interviewing Subcommittee.

The Friday agenda (all times Central) is:

• 11:50 a.m.: welcome video
• Noon: welcome from the Admissions Dean
• 12:10 p.m.: curriculum presentation
• 12:30 p.m.: welcome from the student co-chair
• 1 to 3:30 p.m.: your two interviews (you only need to be in the Zoom meeting for your assigned times)
• 3:45 p.m.: closing remarks from the Admissions Dean
• 4 to 4:45 p.m.: live student panel Q&A
• 4:45 to 5:30 p.m. (optional): live campus and medical center tour and “Life in Houston”

The Thursday evening before each interview day, Baylor hosts a virtual student social from 6 to 8 p.m. Central. Applicants are split into small groups for games and conversation with current students. You must RSVP by noon Central on the Monday before. Socials listed for the rest of this cycle are October 15, 22 and 29, November 5 and 12, December 3 and 10, 2026, and January 7, 2027. During interview season, Baylor also offers interviewed applicants opportunities to visit the Houston and Temple campuses.

If you list Texas as your state of residence, complete Baylor’s Residency Questionnaire before your interview date.

What the Interviewers Look For

Baylor tells applicants the interview helps determine whether the applicant and the school are a good match. The interview probes interpersonal and intrapersonal skills (communication, teamwork, ethics, self-appraisal and cultural competence), service to others, learning experiences (curiosity and critical thinking) and motivation for medicine. Prepare examples for each of those areas.

How to Prepare

Make sure you have a steady internet connection and that your camera, audio and Zoom setup work before the day. A virtual interview can psych some students out. Prepare the same way you would for an in-person one: dress the part (not just from the waist up), choose a quiet, neutral background and be ready to answer whatever you are asked. Baylor links two guides on its interview page, a virtual interview preparation guide and tips for medical school applicants.

Since Baylor uses a traditional format, practice answering questions like these. They are common practice questions, not a list of Baylor’s actual questions:

• “Why Baylor specifically? What about the inquiry project, the Medical Research Pathway or the Texas Medical Center matters to you?”
• “Describe the most significant experiences that led you to pursue a medical career.”
• “How do you stand out from other applicants?”
• “Tell us about a specific patient or community care experience that shaped your path.”
• “How would you handle a disagreement with a senior physician about patient care?”
• “Would you prefer the Houston or the Temple campus, and why?”

Bring a few thoughtful questions of your own. Asking a faculty interviewer about their field, or asking a student interviewer how the learning communities work day to day, shows real preparation. Use the student panel and the Thursday social to ask what you could not learn from the website.

MD/PhD Interviews

MSTP interviews are also on Zoom, beginning Thursday afternoon at 3:45 p.m. Central, with two faculty interviews, a director’s interview and a student interview on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, followed by the medical school interviews on Friday afternoon. The 2026-2027 MSTP interview dates are October 8-9, October 22-23, November 5-6 and December 3-4, 2026, and January 7-8, 2027. Accepted MSTP applicants are invited to an in-person Recruitment Weekend, April 1-3, 2027, at the program’s expense.

After the Interview

Baylor accepts letters of intent from interviewed applicants through its application system. If Baylor is your top choice, a well-written letter of intent can matter at the margin. Remember that updates to your application (a new score, publication or role) are not accepted once you are invited to interview, so use the letter for commitment, not new facts. Then rank Baylor in the TMDSAS Match by January 29.

On the day of your interview, take a deep breath and do your best. No one interviews perfectly, but with preparation, you will have as good a shot as any other applicant. If you want to practice beforehand, consider a mock interview with us.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Baylor College of Medicine the same as Baylor University?

No. Baylor College of Medicine is an independent private health sciences university in Houston. Baylor University in Waco is a separate institution. The two share historical roots and still partner on the Baylor 2 Medical Track and the Temple-based MD/MBA, but they are governed separately. When you apply to the MD program, you are applying to Baylor College of Medicine.

Does Baylor accept AMCAS?

Not for the MD program. Traditional MD applicants must complete TMDSAS. If you are also applying outside Texas, you will submit AMCAS for those schools and TMDSAS for Baylor. The MD/PhD (MSTP) program is the exception: MSTP applicants are required to complete AMCAS, not TMDSAS.

Does Baylor favor Texas residents?

Baylor uses the same criteria to evaluate in-state and out-of-state applicants. Even so, the class is mostly Texan: 200 of the 226 first-time students in the 2026 entering class were Texas residents and 25 came from other states. Out-of-state applicants with strong files are competitive. If you live outside Texas, apply to Baylor as one part of a balanced list.

What is the average MCAT score for accepted students at Baylor?

For the 2025 entering class, accepted applicants had a median MCAT of 519 and a mean of 518.7. Section medians were 130 in Chemical and Physical Foundations, 128 in CARS, 130 in Biological and Biochemical Foundations and 130 in Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations. Baylor has no MCAT minimum. Your MCAT must be from September 2024 through September 9, 2027, and Baylor reviews your most recent score.

What is the average GPA for accepted students at Baylor?

For the 2025 entering class, accepted applicants had a median overall GPA of 3.95 (mean 3.92) and a median science GPA of 3.94 (mean 3.89). Baylor has no GPA minimum, and it does not substitute a postbaccalaureate or graduate GPA for a lower undergraduate GPA. If your transcript has a weak semester, explain it in Secondary Prompt 3 and show the improvement that followed.

Does Baylor require CASPer or PREview?

Baylor requires Casper for all MD and MD/PhD applicants. You need a Casper score to be considered for an interview. AAMC PREview is not part of Baylor’s requirements, and Baylor does not require Duet or Snapshot. Register for Baylor’s test, CSP-10111, early, because test dates are limited and scores are valid for one cycle only.

Are interviews in person or virtual at Baylor?

Virtual, on Zoom, on select Fridays from August through January. Each applicant has two 25-30 minute interviews with a faculty member and/or a student member of the Admissions Interviewing Subcommittee. A virtual student social takes place the Thursday evening before.

Can I apply to the MD/PhD if I am an international applicant?

Yes. The MSTP accepts international students, but you must complete your undergraduate training at an accredited U.S. college or university. Accepted MSTP students must complete both degrees at Baylor (or Rice Bioengineering for Rice students). The MD-only program does not accept international applicants.

Does Baylor accept transfer students?

No. Baylor’s School of Medicine does not accept transfer applicants and does not offer advanced standing, even to students who completed courses at another medical school.

Can I establish Texas residency after matriculating?

Residency for tuition purposes is governed by the Texas Education Code and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rules. Current students who were classified as non-residents and want to be reclassified as Texas residents apply through Baylor’s Registrar. Because the rules are state law and can change, plan your budget on non-resident tuition unless you are reclassified.

Does Baylor accept DACA students?

Not at this time. Baylor College of Medicine does not accept DACA students.

Does Baylor accept AP credit for prerequisites?

No. AP, IB, CLEP and dual credit do not count toward Baylor’s required coursework. Take upper-level courses in those subjects instead. Online courses on an accredited U.S. transcript do count.

How old can my prerequisite courses be?

All prerequisite courses must be taken within 10 years before you apply.

Is there an early decision program?

No. Baylor does not offer early decision. Texas schools may begin making offers on October 15, and most decisions come through the TMDSAS Match in February.

How does Baylor decide whether I attend the Houston or the Temple campus?

After you are accepted, you rank your campus preferences in the applicant portal. A computerized system assigns campuses based on preferences and capacity, and notifications begin in March. You complete all four years at your assigned campus. MD/PhD students are always assigned to Houston.

Can I send updates after I apply?

Yes, until you receive an interview invitation. After you are invited, Baylor no longer accepts updates, but interviewed applicants may send letters of intent. Waitlisted applicants can submit updates through the application system.

Is the inquiry project really required?

Yes. Every MD student must complete a Student Scholarship and Inquiry Project to graduate. MD/PhD students are exempt. Projects can come from research, quality improvement, education, community medicine or a pathway capstone.

Does Baylor offer merit scholarships?

Yes. Every accepted applicant is considered. Awards are made from October through May, sometimes after the TMDSAS Match. Baylor does not match merit offers from other schools.

How many applicants does Baylor interview?

For the 2025 entering class, Baylor interviewed 1,062 of 6,073 verified applicants, or 17.5 percent. Texas residents were interviewed at 19.1 percent and out-of-state applicants at 14.2 percent. That is an interview rate, not an acceptance rate; no count of offers is published.

What is Baylor’s acceptance rate?

No acceptance rate is published for the MD program, because no count of acceptances (offers) is published. For the 2025 entering class, 224 of 6,073 verified applicants matriculated, about 3.7 percent. That is a matriculation rate. The true acceptance rate is higher, because some admitted applicants enroll elsewhere.

Is there a fee waiver for the secondary?

Yes. The supplemental application costs $100, and a fee waiver is available.

Does financial need affect admission?

No. Financial need is not a factor in selecting students. About 70 percent of Baylor medical students received financial aid in 2024-25.

Can I defer my admission?

Deferred entrance requests are considered case by case. One accepted applicant deferred entrance in the 2025 entering class.

How much clinical experience do I need for Baylor?

Baylor does not set a minimum number of hours. It looks for meaningful experiences in the health field, service to others and appropriate motivation. Quality and reflection matter more than a number. Many applicants strengthen this part of their file through pre-health internships or local clinical jobs before they apply.

Related Medical School Guides

If you are applying to Baylor, you are almost certainly applying to other Texas schools through TMDSAS. These guides cover schools with a useful connection to Baylor:

• UT Southwestern Medical School: a large, research-heavy Dallas MD program on TMDSAS, whose Class of 2030 had 239 students and a mean MCAT of 517.
• TCU Burnett School of Medicine: another private Texas MD school, in Fort Worth, but one that uses AMCAS and charges one tuition rate to every student.
• Texas Tech Paul L. Foster School of Medicine: a TMDSAS school in El Paso on the U.S.-Mexico border, a fit for applicants drawn to the Spanish-language care Baylor also values.
• UTMB School of Medicine: a public TMDSAS school in Galveston, close to Houston, with a class of about 230.
• UT Tyler School of Medicine: one of Texas’s newest MD programs, in East Texas, with preliminary LCME accreditation and a first class of 40.
• UTRGV School of Medicine: a small TMDSAS school in the Rio Grande Valley with a class of 55, focused on its border region.

For the whole state, read our guide to getting into Texas medical schools, and for the application itself, our step-by-step TMDSAS walkthrough.

More Definitive Guides

While you are looking at schools to apply to, check out some of our definitive guides to other schools:

• Baylor College of Medicine Acceptance Rate (2026)
• George Washington University School of Medicine
• Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
• St. George’s University School of Medicine
• Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (PA)
• Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
• Wake Forest University School of Medicine
• Western University of Health Sciences (CA)
• Drexel University College of Medicine
• Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago
• Georgetown University School of Medicine
• Yale School of Medicine
• Perelman School of Medicine
• UCLA Medical School
• NYU Medical School
• Washington University School of Medicine
• Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Brown Medical School

We recommend applying to multiple schools. If a school you are considering is not listed above, check back soon. We update our blog with new guides all the time.

How International Medical Aid Can Help

International Medical Aid is here to help you. Whether it is reviewing your TMDSAS and secondary applications, proofreading an essay or conducting a mock interview for Baylor’s virtual format, we have your back. Visit our website to schedule your appointment today.

Clinical Internships Abroad

In addition to our consulting services, IMA runs medical internships abroad in East Africa and South America for students preparing for careers in health care. Our programs are hands-on. Interns work in hospitals and clinics, where they take vital signs, do patient intake and triage and help with direct patient care under the supervision of licensed local clinicians. They also shadow physicians to see how care decisions are made. Through IMA’s healthcare internships abroad, students gain clinical experience in settings with limited resources and come away with real patient encounters to reflect on.

For a Baylor applicant, that kind of experience can supply material for Secondary Prompt 1 (community health, disparities or advocacy) or Prompt 3, and it can help you talk about cultural competence in your interview, as long as you describe your role accurately. Our internships for pre-med students are open to students at many stages, from undergraduates to gap-year applicants and reapplicants.

IMA is not affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine, and an IMA internship does not give you an admissions advantage at Baylor or any other school. What it can give you is supervised patient contact and experiences worth writing about.

Your next step: list your clinical, research and service experiences, decide which two areas you would check in Secondary Prompt 1, and identify the one story for Prompt 3 that your TMDSAS application cannot tell.

Final Thoughts and Sources

We wish you the best of luck as you apply to medical school. Baylor College of Medicine is a fantastic school that offers a world-class education at a private-school price that is low by national standards. To apply well: confirm that you meet the citizenship and prerequisite rules, submit TMDSAS early, finish Casper and your letters on time, write three focused secondary answers and prepare for a virtual interview. Then decide early how you feel about the Houston and Temple campuses.

The journey to medical school can be rewarding, and we hope it is exactly that for you. Remember to reach out to us if you need help with your applications, essays or interviews. We believe in you and in your ability to become a medical doctor.

Sources

Facts in this guide were checked on October 18, 2026. Class size and residency figures are for the 2026 entering class (census September 1, 2026) unless another year is stated. MCAT, GPA, application, interview, experience and demographic figures are for the 2025 entering class from the AAMC MSAR. Costs are from Baylor’s 2026-27 tuition and fee tables.

• AAMC Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR), 2026 edition, Baylor College of Medicine profile, accessed October 18, 2026: MCAT and GPA of accepted applicants, verified applications, interviews and matriculants (2025 entering class, AAMC Data Warehouse as of October 29, 2025), premedical experiences, demographics, secondary fee waiver, deposit, deferral, waitlist, financial aid share (LCME Part I-B 2024-25), specialty intentions (2025 Graduation Questionnaire). Subscription profile; not linked.

• BCM M.D. Program Campuses and Admissions: holistic review, applicant qualities, campus selection, Temple branch campus

• BCM How to Apply: TMDSAS, MCAT, letters, Casper, interview qualities
• BCM M.D. Program Admission Requirements
• BCM M.D. Program Admissions FAQs: MCAT dates for the 2027 entering class, Casper deadlines, international and DACA policy, waitlist, merit scholarships
• BCM M.D. Admissions Timeline
• BCM Supplemental Application: dates and $100 fee
• BCM Casper Test
• BCM Interview Program and Pre-Interview Social dates
• BCM Notification of Acceptance: deposit and early decision
• BCM Office of the Registrar, Student Enrollment Statistics, Academic Year 2026-2027 (census September 1, 2026)
• BCM M.D. Program Tuition and Fees, 2026-2027 cost of attendance and BCM Financial Aid: average debt, 2025-2026 graduating class
• BCM Foundational Sciences Curriculum, Clinical Curriculum, Core Clerkships, Selectives and Sub-Internships and Training Sites
• BCM Class of 2030 M.D. Graduation Requirements and Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Medicine
• BCM Medical Pathways, including the Care of the Underserved, Global Health, Genetics and Genomics, Quality Improvement and Medical Humanities pathway pages
• BCM Dual Degrees, including the M.D./J.D., M.D./M.B.A. (Rice and Baylor University), M.D./M.P.H. and M.D./M.S. pages
• BCM M.D./Ph.D. Program Admissions: 2026-2027 interview dates and statistics for the class entering 2026
• BCM Baccalaureate/M.D. Programs
• BCM LCME Accreditation and BCM SACSCOC Accreditation
• BCM Mission, Vision, Values and BCM 2026 Fast Facts
• BCM Learning Community Advisor Program, Mentoring, Student Life and SOAR
• BCM Match Day 2026 and BCM M.D. Program home: USMLE record
• BCM Office of the President, School of Medicine Leadership, Admissions Committee and BCM faculty directory profiles for Jeffrey Chipman, Nadia Ismail, Jesus Vallejo, Kirk Jackson Jr., Christian Cable, Katherine King, James Orengo, Arindam Sarkar and Ryan Rochat
• TMDSAS Deadlines and Important Dates, Entry Year 2027 and TMDSAS Essays
• Texas Medical Center facts and figures
• Secondary prompt wording and limits for 2026-2027: the Student Doctor Network 2026-2027 Baylor College of Medicine thread and the Med School Insiders Baylor secondary prompts list, checked October 18, 2026. Baylor does not post its prompts publicly.